Industry, universities tell House panel AI and modular plants can speed U.S. critical‑minerals supply

Witnesses at a House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing on critical minerals on Dec. 1 urged Congress to pair technology investment with stable policy and workforce funding to speed domestic production.

Daniel Donahue, head of growth at Terra AI, told members that his company's models let geologists generate ‘‘thousands in just minutes’’ of deposit models, reducing exploratory false positives and compressing timelines that historically discouraged private investment. ‘‘We can produce thousands in just minutes,’’ Donahue said, arguing faster, data‑driven exploration could make mining more attractive to investors and bring more deposits online for energy and national security needs.

Mahesh Kunduru, chief executive officer of Momentum Technologies, described a modular membrane solvent‑extraction (MSX) platform developed with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Department of Energy’s Critical Minerals Innovation Hub, and validated with Defense Logistics Agency support. Kunduru said modular units can be co‑located with feedstock, be transportable for remote sites and be built in roughly a year compared with three to five years for conventional processing facilities, reducing permitting complexity and transportation impacts.

Walter Copan, who leads research and technology transfer at the Colorado School of Mines, emphasized the need for sustained federal R&D and workforce development. ‘‘The U.S. needs a coordinated national mineral and material strategy rooted in science, economics and risk assessment,’’ Copan said, urging continued support for the Mining Schools Act and for funding of survey programs that create pre‑competitive data.

Nicholas Luganski, head of mining at SLB New Energy, argued for cross‑industry technology transfer from oil and gas — including advanced subsurface imaging, in‑situ extraction and real‑time monitoring — as ways to lower capital intensity and extend existing mine life while reducing surface disturbance.

Members pressed witnesses on several recurring themes: the speed and format of federal geologic surveys and Earth MRI data, whether publication of drill cores after confidentiality periods should be required, and how modular or incremental permitting might enable faster deployment. Witnesses repeatedly urged better standardization and databasing of geologic information to reduce ‘‘geologic risk’’ and to attract earlier‑stage investment.

Several members raised environmental and community concerns, including the role of Good Neighbor Agreements and the need for occupational and public‑health protections. Witnesses and members discussed reuse and reprocessing of tailings and mine waste as lower‑impact supply pathways and the potential for modular processing to support local remediation and recovery.

The committee's hearing record was left open for written questions and additional materials. The panel did not vote on legislation during the session; a member submitted H.R. 3713, the Legacy Mine Cleanup Act, for the record. The hearing closed with an invitation for members to submit follow‑up questions and evidence to the clerk by the announced deadline.

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations did not adopt formal actions at the hearing; members signaled interest in funding pilots, expanding federal surveys and crafting permitting guidance to accelerate pilot modular processing.